Circuit, integrated circuit, receiver, transceiver and method for receiving a signal

ABSTRACT

A circuit according to an example includes a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal including a data stream, the data stream including at least one block of data, a block of the at least one block of data including at least two sub-blocks, a payload of the block being redundantly encoded in the at least two sub-blocks, and the at least two sub-blocks of the block being consistently arranged over time inside the block. The circuit further includes a control circuit configured to switch the receiver circuit into a non-ready-to-receive state during at least a part of at least one of the at least two sub-blocks of the block, when an enable condition is fulfilled.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to German Application number102015106201.1, filed on Apr. 22, 2015, the contents of which are hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a circuit, an integrated circuit, areceiver, a transceiver, a method for receiving a signal andcorresponding software-related implementations.

BACKGROUND

In many applications, power consumption is a critical issue, since itmay limit the possibilities of using devices, when no ready-to-use powersource like a power line is available. Examples come from all kinds ofmobile devices including, for instance, mobile computers, mobile phonesand mobile radio equipment. In many of these applications data includingspeech, audio data or other data are transmitted from a transmitter to areceiver or even exchanged between participating entities. In many ofthese applications, transmitting and receiving data often causes theenergy consumption of the corresponding device to climb.

For instance, in the field of mobile phones, energy consumption may be acritical parameter for the operating time of a mobile phone, sincemobile phones typically depend on rechargeable batteries used, whichhave to be charged or recharged.

While many steps have been taken to limit the necessary power duringtransmission, energy consumption during receiving signals has not beenfocused on to the extent of saving energy during transmitting.Therefore, for instance in the field of mobile phones, a challengeexists to further reduce a power consumption. This may prolong anoperating time of the mobile phone typically limited by the chargecapacity of the batteries used.

However, also in other fields of technology and other applications,similar challenges exist. Apart from the previously-mentioned mobilecomputers and mobile radio equipment, similar challenges exist, forinstance, in applications where signals are at least to be received andwhere an energy supply may be limited for different reasons. Otherexamples may come from the automotive area as well as the maritime orthe aeronautical field.

SUMMARY

Therefore, a demand exists to reduce an energy consumption whenreceiving a signal. This demand may be satisfied by a circuit, anintegrated circuit, a receiver, a transceiver, a method for receiving asignal, corresponding software-related implementations or an apparatusfor receiving a signal according to any of the independent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some examples of circuits, apparatuses and/or methods will be describedin the following by way of example only. In this context, reference willbe made to the accompanying Figures.

FIG. 1 shows a simplified block diagram of a circuit according to anexample;

FIG. 2 shows a simplified diagram of a signal;

FIGS. 3a to 3d show diagrams of AMR 12.2 transmissions on a DPCHillustrating a CRC error ratio as a function of a signal qualityaccording to the 3G Rel. 99 protocol and according to an example;

FIG. 4 shows diagrams of SRB transmissions on a DPCH illustrating a CRCerror ratio as a function of a signal quality according to the 3G Rel.99 protocol and according to an example;

FIG. 5 shows a simplified block diagram of an integrated circuitaccording to an example;

FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of a receiver or a transceiveraccording to an example; and

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a method for receiving a signalaccording to an example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various examples will now be described more fully with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which some examples are illustrated. In thefigures, the thicknesses of lines, layers and/or regions may beexaggerated for clarity.

Accordingly, while examples are capable of various modifications andalternative forms, the illustrative examples in the figures and willherein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, thatthere is no intent to limit examples to the particular forms disclosed,but on the contrary, examples are to cover all modifications,equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of thedisclosure. Like numbers refer to like or similar elements throughoutthe description of the figures. Moreover, summarizing reference signswill be used to refer to more than one structure, element or object orto describe more than one structure, element or object at the same time.Objects, structures and elements referred to by the same, a similar or asummarizing reference sign may be identically implemented. However, one,some or all properties, features and dimensions may also vary fromelement to element.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion(e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directlyadjacent,” etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexamples only and is not intended to be limiting of examples. As usedherein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,”“comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when used herein, specifythe presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elementsand/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components and/or blocks thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which examples belong. It will befurther understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

In many fields of our daily lives, people rely more and more heavily onelectric and electronic devices, for instance, to access information, toconnect to other people or services. Many of these devices are mobiledevices, which can be moved around along with a vehicle such as a car, aship, a yacht, a plane or the like, or which can be carried around by aperson. In these applications, supplying the respective device withenergy may be a limiting factor since electrical energy typically cannotbe provided on a continuous basis under these circumstances. Mobiledevices often require energy storing components, such as batteries orthe like. For instance, in mobile computers including tablet computer,as well as other mobile devices such as mobile phones, smartphones,pagers or the like comprise rechargeable batteries. However, theoperating time is often limited by the capacity of these rechargeablebatteries.

Similarly, in mobile devices for vehicles such as cars, trucks, ships,yachts and planes, apart from rechargeable batteries conventionalfuel-driven generators may also be available to provide the mobiledevices with energy. Nevertheless, also in these cases the availabilityof electrical energy may be limited.

Many of these devices furthermore offer the possibility of at leastreceiving or even exchanging signals comprising data. For instance,smartphones, mobile phones or mobile computers may allow their users toconnect to the internet, to access their e-mails, log onto social mediaor communicate using telephone connections offered by their devices.

While with respect to transmitting signals many steps have been taken toreduce an energy consumption, reducing an energy consumption whenreceiving such signals has not been extensively focused on. Therefore, achallenge exists to reduce an energy consumption when receiving suchsignals.

Although in the following examples will be described which come fromradio-based wireless communication systems, such as the 3G Rel. 99mobile phone standards, also in other fields of application examplesdescribed below can be used. These examples may allow a way to reduce apower consumption, for instance, during an ongoing 3G Rel. 99 voicecall, although the general or basic principal is by far not restrictedto 3G Rel. 99 voice calls.

As outlined before, power consumption is an important performance metricin wireless communication. The general rule of thumb is the less, thebetter. Examples as will be described below may allow a way to reduce apower consumption in such voice calls but also other transmissionschemes by switching a receiver circuit into a non-ready-to-receivestate for a part of a block of a transmission.

While there are many different ways to reduce a voice call powerconsumption, ranging from architectural changes, changes in the process,changes in the signaling and so on, examples may allow operating deviceswithin existing standards and may yet allow comparably large energysavings, when the conditions are right.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a circuit 100 comprising thereceiver circuit 110 and the control circuit 120. For instance, thecontrol circuit 120 may be implemented as a processor-based controlcircuit (CTRL) 120. As will be laid out in more detail below, thereceiver circuit may be designed to receive a signal comprising a datastream which comprises at least one block of data. Such a block maycomprise at least two sub-blocks, in which a payload of the block isredundantly encoded. The sub-blocks are typically consistently arrangedover time inside the block. In other words, the sub-blocks may bearranged gapless over time inside the block. However, with respect toFIG. 2, the signal as described before will be described in more detail.

The control circuit 120 may be configured or specifically designed toswitch the receiver circuit 110 into a non-ready-to-receive state duringat least a part of at least one sub-block of the block, when an enablecondition is fulfilled. To be able to switch the receiver circuit 110into the previously-mentioned non-ready-to-receive state, the controlcircuit 120 may be coupled to the receiver circuit 110 allowing to atleast send command signals to the receiver circuit 110.

The signal to be received by the circuit 100 may be a radio signal, forinstance a radio signal in a radio cellular network compatible, forinstance, to the 3G Rel. 99 standard, which is incorporated herewith. Tobe able to receive the signal, the circuit 100 may comprise an antenna130 or may be coupled to an antenna 130 via, for instance, an optionalterminal 140 of the circuit 100.

Depending on the implementation, the receiver circuit 110 may be coupleddirectly to the antenna 130 or, as indicated in FIG. 1, indirectly viathe terminal 140 and, for instance, via a multiplexer (MUX) 150 or asimilar circuit allowing the antenna 130 not only to be used by thereceiver circuit 130 but also by a transmitter circuit 160. Themultiplexer 150 may allow an alternating access to the antenna by thereceiver circuit 110 and by the transmitter circuit 160, which itself isan optional component. However, instead of a multiplexer 150, a dividingnetwork may be used allowing a simultaneous or concurrent access to theantenna 130 by the receiver circuit 110 and the transmitter circuit 160.

Also the transmitter circuit 160 may be coupled to the control circuit120 to allow the control circuit 120 to influence or even control theoperation of the transmitter circuit 160, for instance, by settingoperational parameters or to influence a transmission signal generatedby the transmitter circuit 160 in response to a signal provided by thecontrol circuit 120. For instance, as will be laid out in more detailbelow, the control circuit 120 may generate a power control signal andprovide same to the transmitter circuit 160 on the basis of which thetransmitter circuit 160 generates a transmission signal, which is thensent via the antenna 130.

Naturally, instead of using a single antenna 130 as depicted in FIG. 1,also a plurality of antennas may be used, for instance, for differentfrequency bands or frequency resources. For instance, the receivercircuit 110 and the transmitter circuit 160 may be coupled to individualantennas 130 to allow receiving a signal and transmitting a transmissionsignal over different antennas, respectively.

Although so far the signal to be received has been described as a radiosignal, examples of a circuit 100 and other examples are by far notlimited to radio-based signals. For instance, also optical or otherelectromagnetic signals as well as acoustic or ultrasonic signals may beused in the context of the examples. Nevertheless, in the followingdescription, radio signals will be used to explain some examples.

In the case of the signal to be received by the receiver circuit 110,the receiver circuit 110 may comprise an analog part 170 and a digitalpart 180. The analog part 170 may be configured and, hence, specificallydesigned, to process the signal at least partially in a radio-frequencydomain, while the digital part 180 may be configured to process thesignal at least partially in a baseband domain. The baseband domaintypically has a lower center frequency than the radio-frequency domain,although a bandwidth of the signal in the radio-frequency domain and inthe baseband domain may be equal. However, due to the processing in theanalog part 170 and/or in the digital part 180 a bandwidth of the signalin the radio-frequency domain and in the baseband domain may also bedifferent.

In the example depicted in FIG. 1, the analog part 170 of the receivercircuit 110 is configured to provide the signal in the baseband domain.However, in other examples, the digital part 180 of the receiver circuit110 may equally well be configured to generate the signal in thebaseband domain. For instance, the analog part 170 may provide thesignal in an intermediate frequency domain, while the digital part 180generates the signal in the baseband domain based on the signal in theintermediate frequency domain. However, in the example depicted here,the analog part 170 provides the signal in the baseband domain to thedigital part 180.

The analog part 170 may comprise a filter 190 such as a band-passfilter, configured to filter the signal in the radio-frequency domain.An input of the filter 190 may be coupled to the antenna 130. However,instead of a band-pass filter as depicted in FIG. 1, also other filtersmay be used such as a notch filter, a low-pass filter or a high-passfilter to mention just a few.

An output of the filter 190 may be coupled to an input of an amplifier200, for instance a low-noise amplifier (LNA). The amplifier may beconfigured to amplify the signal in the radio-frequency domain. Sincethe amplifier 200 is coupled with its input to an output of the filter190 in the example depicted in FIG. 1, the amplifier 200 will be used toamplify the filtered signal received via the antenna 130.

An output of the amplifier 200 may then be coupled to a mixer 210configured to down-mix the signal from the radio-frequency domain to alower frequency band. As explained before, in the example depicted inFIG. 1, the mixer 210 may be configured to down-mix the amplified andfiltered signal from the radio-frequency domain to the baseband domain.In order to allow the mixer 210 to perform this, the mixer 210 may alsobe provided with a local oscillator (LO) signal, which may be providedby an oscillator not shown in FIG. 1. Such an oscillator may, forinstance, be based on a phase-locked-loop (PLL) such as a fractionalphase-locked-loop (FPLL).

The receiver circuit 110 may further comprise a baseband circuit 220,which is mainly part of the digital part 180 of the receiver circuit110. The baseband circuit 220 may comprise an analog-to-digitalconverter 230 (ADC) which is configured to digitize the signal providedto its input. The signal may be sampled and quantized by theanalog-to-digital converter 230 to provide a digital representation ofthe signal provided to the analog-to-digital converter 230. The basebandcircuit 220 may further comprise a decoder (DEC) 240, coupled to anoutput of the analog-to-digital converter 230 and configured to decodethe signal further in the baseband domain. For instance, the decoder 240may be designed to demodulate the received signal.

The receiver circuit 110 may also be configured to generate a payloadsignal indicating the payload of the block received by the receivercircuit 110. The receiver circuit 110 may comprise a terminal 250coupled to the receiver circuit 110, for instance, coupled to thebaseband circuit 220 or, for example, to the decoder 240 at which thepayload signal may be obtainable and can further be processed by otherparts of the circuit 100 or other components of a system comprising thecircuit. For instance, the circuit 100 may be used in the mobile unit,which is also referred to as user equipment (UE), of a radio cellularnetwork. For instance, the radio cellular network may be compatible withthe 3G Rel. 99 standard (3G Release 1999).

As described before, the control circuit 120 of the circuit 100 canswitch the receiver circuit 110 into a non-ready-to-receive state duringat least one of the sub-blocks of the block, when thepreviously-mentioned enable condition is fulfilled. A power consumptionof the circuit 100 in the non-ready-to-receive state may be lower thanin a ready-to-receive state, in which the circuit 100 is configured toreceive a sub-block of the block and to decode the payload of the blockbased on the at least one received sub-block. To reduce the energyconsumption of the circuit 100 in the non-ready-to-receive state, thereceiver circuit may switch at least one component of the analog part170 of the receiver circuit 110 into stand-by or off. For instance, theat least one component may be the filter 190, the amplifier 200 or themixer 210 as previously mentioned.

However, to allow the circuit 100 and the receiver circuit 110 toreceive a further block or another sub-block of the same block, the atleast one component, which is switchable to stand-by or to off, may besuch a component to be switchable into a full mode of operation usedduring the ready-to-receive state in less than a transmission durationof a sub-block of the corresponding block. For instance, the at leastone component may be switchable from stand-by or off into the full modeof operation in less than 10% or even in less than 20% of thetransmission time of the sub-block.

Similarly, the receiver circuit 110 may be configured to switch at leastone component of the digital part 180 of the receiver circuit intostand-by or off in the non-ready-to-receive state. For instance, the atleast one component of the digital part 180 may be the analog-to-digitalconverter 230 and/or the decoder 240 of the baseband circuit 220.Similar to the components of the analog part 170, also these componentsmay be switchable from stand-by to off to a corresponding full mode ofoperation used during the ready-to-receive state in less than atransmission duration of a sub-block of the block, such as less than 10%or even less than 20% of the transmission time of the sub-block.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified block diagram of a signal 300 to be receivedby the circuit 100 as depicted in FIG. 1. As mentioned before, thesignal comprises one or more data streams 310 which may correspond to achannel in some wireless communication protocols or techniques. Each ofthe data streams 310 may comprise at least one block 320 of data, whichin turn may comprise one or more sub-blocks 330.

In the example depicted in FIG. 2, the signal 300 comprises at least twodata streams 310-1, 310-2, which may be allocated to different users,different services and/or different purposes, for instance, in acellular network. FIG. 2 shows a representation of the signal 300 overtime. As a consequence, since the different data streams may beallocated to different users, different services and/or differentpurposes, the signal 300 is a non-time-multiplexed signal. For instance,the signal 300 may be a WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access)signal used, for instance, in the 3G mobile communication standard(UMTS; universal mobile telecommunication system) or FDMA-based(frequency division multiple access) modulation schemes such as OFDMA(orthogonal frequency division multiple access) and SC-FDMA (singlecarrier FDMA) schemes used in the 4th generation mobile communicationprotocols, such as LTE (long-term evolution) to name just a fewexamples.

To describe the signal 300 in more detail, the data stream 310-1illustrate a data stream 310 with a plurality of blocks 320-1, . . . ,320-8. At least one of the blocks 320 comprises a plurality ofsub-blocks 330. To be a little more specific, in the example depicted inFIG. 2, the blocks 320-1, 320-2, 320-5, 320-6 and 320-8 each compriseonly a single sub-block 330, which has not been labeled with acorresponding sub-block for the sake of simplicity only. However, block320-3 as well as block 320-7 each comprise two sub-blocks 330-1 and330-2, while block 320 comprises four sub-blocks 330-1, . . . , 330-4.For instance, the blocks 320-3 and 320-7 may comprise AMR (AdaptiveMulti-Rate audio codec) data. Similarly, in the case of a block of datatransmitted on a dedicated physical channel (DPCH), each of the blocks320 may comprise two sub-blocks 330 or two frames.

For instance, in the case of the signal 300 being in compliance with the3G Rel. 99 standard (UMTS, Release 1999), the blocks 320 are alsoreferred to as TTI (transmit time interval), which corresponds to oneblock of data, and the sub-blocks 330 are also referred to as frames.For instance, in the case of a signaling radio bearer (SRB), each block320 comprises four sub-blocks 330 or, in other words, four frames.Similarly, in the case of a block of data transmitted on a dedicatedphysical channel (DPCH), each of the blocks 320 comprises two sub-blocksor two frames.

Each of the blocks 320 comprises a payload, which may be redundantlyencoded in the case the corresponding block 330 comprises at least twosub-blocks 330. For instance, the payload of such a block 320 maycorrespond to at least one block of data concerning a speechtransmission, an audio transmission, configuration data for thetransmission or other data transmissions. By redundantly encoding thepayload of the block 320 in at least two sub-blocks 330, the payload maybe decodable from a lower number of sub-blocks 330 than the block 320comprises. The payload may comprise or even consist of digital data.Hence, in the signal 300 the payload may be digitally encoded. In yetother words, the data stream 310 may be a digitally-encoded data stream310. Hence, also the signal 300 may eventually be considered a digitalor digitally-encoded signal.

Due to the structure of the signal as depicted in FIG. 2, a way toreduce the power consumption when receiving such a signal 300, forinstance, in a 3G Rel. 99 voice call, may be by switching the receivercircuit 110 into a non-ready-to-receive state during at least a part ofat least one sub-block of the block 320. For instance, in the case of a3G Rel. 99 voice call using the AMR 12.2 codec (AMR=adaptive multi-rate)it may be possible to switch off the receiver circuit 110 for a part ofthe block 320, if the conditions are right. Due to the redundantencoding of the payload in the corresponding sub-blocks 330, the payloadmay be successfully decoded by the already received part of the block320. Hence, the circuit 100 may—a little oversimplifying—in short stoplistening or receiving, when it has heard enough to obtain the payload.

This previously-mentioned switching off the radio-frequency part of thereceiver circuit may comprise only partially switching off the receivercircuit 110. For instance, the previously-mentioned components such asthe filter 190, the amplifier 200 or the mixer 210 may be switched offor put into stand-by such that the receiver circuit 110 in this phase isnot capable of receiving and decoding sub-blocks 330. Depending on theimplementation and the signal quality, it may be possible to switch offthe receiver circuit 110 at least partially or to put the receivercircuit 110 at least partially into a corresponding stand-by mode up to50% of the time or even more depending on the implementation of theredundant encoding. This may represent a large amount of possible powersavings, which may be used, for instance to prolong the operating timeof a mobile device of a user.

To allow the circuit 100 to receive and decode the payload, the controlcircuit 120 may be configured to switch the receiver circuit 110 into aready-to-receive state for at least a minimum number of sub-blocks 330required to decode the payload of the block 320, when the enablecondition is fulfilled. The ready-to-receive state may be a state inwhich the circuit is configured to receive a sub-block 330 of the block320 and to decode the block based on the at least one received sub-block330. Naturally, if the conditions are right, the control circuit 120 maybe configured to switch the receiver circuit 110 into theready-to-receive state during exactly the minimum number of sub-blocks330 of the block 320 required to decode the payload of the block 320,when the enable condition is fulfilled. The control circuit 120 mayfurther switch the receiver circuit 110 into the non-ready-to-receivestate during the rest of the sub-blocks 330 of the block 320 not used todecode the payload of the block 320, when the enable condition isfulfilled. The decoding of the payload of the block 320 may be based ona pre-defined pattern for the at least one sub-block 330 during whichthe receiver circuit 110 has been switched to the non-ready-to-receivestate. The predefined pattern may correspond to a predefined value suchas a constant value, for instance zero. However, also any other valuemay be used.

Before describing the enable condition and some applications in moredetail, it should be noted that some wireless communication standardscomprise power control feedback loops to allow the transmitter, such asa base station in a cellular mobile network, to adapt its poweraccording to the present reception circumstances and vice-versa.Depending on the standard, both, the uplink from the mobile device tothe base station and the downlink from the base station to the mobiledevice may comprise one or more corresponding power control loops. Forinstance, a quickly-acting inner power control loop as well as a moreslowly acting outer power control loop may be implemented.

For instance, in the case of a quickly-acting inner power control loop,each of the sub-blocks may comprise a predefined number of slots 340,which are indicated in FIG. 2 by dotted lines. In each of the slices340, a power control value may be transmitted indicating to thereceiving device, in other words to the mobile device of the user or thebase station, a request to adapt the power level of the signaltransmitted by the respective device. For instance, in the case of the3G Rel. 99 compatible protocol, each of the sub-blocks 330 may comprisethe opportunity to transmit a power control value, for instance, asingle bit, indicating a request to increase or to decrease the signallevel by one power step. Such a power step may, for instance, be equalto 1 decibel (dB).

However, in other implementations, it may be possible to transmit atleast two corresponding power control values indicating the request toincrease or to decrease the transmission power.

Returning to the enable condition as described before, it should benoted that the enable condition may depend in some examples on twodifferent conditions, which have to be both fulfilled in the sense of alogic AND-relation for the enable condition to be fulfilled. First ofall, the signal to be received by the circuit 100 may have to fulfill asignal quality condition in terms of its signal quality. When the signalquality of the signal 300 does not meet the signal quality condition,the enable condition is not fulfilled.

The enable condition may also depend on an operational condition. Inthis case, the enable condition can only be fulfilled when also theoperational condition is fulfilled, in the case that both theoperational condition and the signal quality condition are implemented.Or, in other words, the enable condition is not fulfilled when theoperational condition is not fulfilled.

In other examples, only one of the two conditions mentioned before maybe implemented at the signal quality condition may be equal to theenable condition or the operational condition may be equal to the enablecondition. However, in the following description, the examples aretypically based on both, the signal quality condition and theoperational condition being implemented.

Before describing some examples in more detail, a broader overview ofthe signal quality condition will be presented first. For instance, thesignal quality condition can be met, when an error rate concerning thepayload of the block, when receiving all sub-blocks 330 of the block320, is at least equal to or comparable with an error rate concerningthe payload of the block 330, when the receiver circuit 110 is switchedto the non-ready-to-receive state for at least a part of at least onesub-block 330 or for at least one sub-block 330. As will be described inmore detail below, the signal quality condition may, for instance, bemet, when the signal quality is at least 1 dB better than the signalquality specified for a predetermined error rate, when all sub-blocks330 of the block 320 are received. Depending on the number of sub-blocks330 in a block 320 and the number of sub-blocks 330 received, thepreviously-mentioned difference in terms of the signal quality may haveto be higher. For instance, when the block 320 comprises exactly twosub-blocks 330, the signal quality condition may be met, when the signalquality is at least 3 dB or at least 4 dB better than the signal qualityspecified for a predetermined error rate, when all sub-blocks 330 of theblock 320 are received. Similarly, when the block 320 comprises exactlyfour sub-blocks 320, and when the receiver circuit 110 is switched tothe ready-to-receive state for exactly two sub-blocks 330, the signalquality condition may be met, when the signal quality is at least 3 dBor at least 4 dB better than a signal quality specified for apre-determined error rate, when all sub-blocks 330 of the blocks 320 arereceived.

In other words, in these two examples, the signal quality condition maybe met, when the signal quality is at least 3 dB or at least 4 dBbetter, when the receiver circuit 110 is switched to theready-to-receive state for half the number of sub-blocks 330 of theblock 320, when the block 320 comprises an even number of sub-blocks330. The ready-to-receive state is in this context once again the stateof the receiver circuit, in which the receiver circuit is configured toreceive the at least one corresponding sub-block 330 and to decode thepayload of the block 320 based on the received sub-blocks 330. In otherwords, in the two examples mentioned before, the receiver circuit 110 isswitched to the non-ready-to-receive state for the other half of thesub-blocks 330 of the block 320.

To illustrate this further, FIGS. 3a to 3d show each for a voicetransmission encoded using the AMR 12.2 codec a CRC (cyclic redundancycheck) error rate as a function of the signal quality DPCH Ec/Ior in dB.Here, the data stream 310 corresponds to the dedicated physical channel(DPCH). Each of the FIGS. 3a to 3d shows a first curve 400 correspondingto the 3G Rel. 99 standard, which is also referred to as legacy in FIGS.3a to 3d . The curves 400 therefore show how the CRC error rate changesas a function of the signal quality, when a conventional receivercircuit is used or when a circuit 100 according to an example is usedand the enable condition is not fulfilled.

FIGS. 3a to 3d further show a curve 410 which also corresponds to theCRC error rate or the AMR 12.2 transmission over a dedicated physicalchannel (DPCH) as the data stream 310, when the enable condition isfulfilled and, hence, the receiver circuit 110 is switched into thenon-ready-to-receive state for one of the two sub-blocks 330. To be alittle more precise, in the examples depicted in FIGS. 3a to 3d , curve410 always relates to the first sub-block 330-1 or the first frame usedto decode the payload of the corresponding block 320.

For a given CRC error rate, FIGS. 3a to 3d show that thesignal-to-interference-and-noise-ratio (SINR) needs to be higher byabout 3 to 4 dB, when the receiver circuit 110 is to be switched to thenon-ready-to-receive state for one of the two sub-blocks 330 compared tothe situation, when the receiver circuit 110 receives all sub-blocks 330of the block 320. To reach the same or a comparable CRC error rate, thesignal quality—here in the form of an SINR should be about 3 to 4 dBhigher compared to the situation when all sub-blocks 330 or the block320 are received. FIGS. 3a to 3d show this for different transportchannels used in context with the AMR 12.2 codec. FIG. 4 shows a similarexample of a signal transmission, however, based on a signal radiobearer (SRB) transmission, when a block 320 comprises exactly fourframes or sub-blocks 330. FIG. 4 once again shows the CRC error rate asa function of the signal quality DPCH Ic/Ior in dB, which may once againbe interpreted as a SINR.

To be a little more precise, FIG. 4 shows a CRC error ratio as afunction of the signal quality for the situation, when all of the foursub-blocks 330 are received (curve 500) when only a single frame orsub-block 330 is received (curve 510), when the first and secondsub-blocks 330 of the block 320 (frames 1 and 2) are received (curve520), when the first and third frames or sub-blocks 330 of the block 320are received (curve 530) and when the first, second and third frames orsub-blocks 330 of the block 320 are received (curve 540).

As described before, when half of the sub-blocks 330 are received andduring half of the sub-blocks 330 the receiver circuit 110 is switchedto the non-ready-to-receive state, a signal quality being about 3 to 4dB higher or better is required based on the proposed scheme ofreceiving two out of the four sub-blocks 330 of the SRB in order toobtain a comparable or equal error ratio. In the case of missing onlyone of a four sub-blocks 330 a signal quality being only about 1 to 2 dBbetter than the signal quality based on receiving all sub-blocks 330 maybe enough to reach the same or a comparable error ratio. However,receiving only a single sub-block 330 will not be enough to decode thepayload of the corresponding block 320 as curve 510 clearly illustrateshaving a CRC error ratio of 1 (=100%).

As a comparison of curves 500 and 540 shows, in the case that the block320 comprises exactly four sub-blocks 330, and the receiver circuit 110is switched to the ready-to receive state for exactly three sub-blocks,the signal quality condition may be met, when the signal quality is atleast 1 dB or at least 2 dB better than the signal quality specified fora predetermined error rate, when all sub-blocks 330 of the block 320 arereceived. Here, switching for three sub-blocks 330 to theready-to-receive state corresponds to switching the non-ready-to-receivestate for a single sub-block 330.

However, as FIGS. 3a to 3d and FIG. 4 have shown, by switching thereceiver circuit to the non-ready-to-receive state for exactly half thenumber of sub-blocks 330, when the block 320 comprises an even number ofsub-blocks 330, the predetermined error rate may be achieved, when thesignal quality is at least about 3 dB or at least about 4 dB better thanin the case, when all sub-blocks 330 are received as a comparison ofFIGS. 410 and 400 in FIGS. 3a to 3d and a comparison of FIGS. 520, 530and 500 of FIG. 4 show.

In the examples depicted before, the signal quality was asignal-to-interference-and-noise-ratio (SINR). However, as a further oran alternative signal quality, also a signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR), asignal-to-interference-ratio (SIR), a coherence time, an error rate, ablock error rate or any combination thereof can be used. These signalqualities may be applied to the data stream 310 of the signal 300, apilot signal comprised in the signal 300, a channel corresponding to thedata stream 310 of the signal 300, a pilot channel of the signal 300,the block 320 of the data stream 310, a sub-block 330 of the block 320or any combination thereof.

For instance, in a typical configuration of a 3G Rel. 99 voice callusing the AMR 12.2 codec, a block 320 or TTI of 20 ms may be used. Thisblock size corresponds to two UMTS radio frames or, in other words, totwo sub-blocks 330. It may further correspond to an effective code rateof less than 50%.

This AMR 12.2 data is carried on the dedicated physical channel (DPCH),which is the dedicated data channel according to the 3G Rel. 99 channel.By numerous simulations as well as experiments, it can be shown asillustrated in the context of FIGS. 3a to 3d , that a successfuldecoding of such a DPCH may be possible using just one of the twosub-blocks 330 or UMTS radio frames, when the signal-to-noise ratio or asimilar signal quality is high enough so that the received radio frameor sub-block is sufficiently error free. The circuit 100 as described inthe context of FIG. 1 as well as other examples uses switching off orswitching into stand-by the receiver circuit 110 operating in theradio-frequency regime, for instance, when the first sub-block 330-1 ofsuch two sub-blocks 330 comprising block 320 (two-frame TTI) isreceived, when the corresponding signal quality such as the SINR of thecorresponding DPCH at the decoder input of the baseband circuit 220 ishigh enough. For instance, the decoder may then be fed with the softbits from the received sub-block 330 and with zeros or otherpredetermined values for other sub-blocks 330 during which the receivercircuit 110 was shut down or brought into another non-ready-to-receivestate.

The same considerations also hold true for the signaling radio bearer(SRB) which also involves decoding the respective payload. However, thisis transmitted over a four-frame long TTI or four-sub-block 330comprising block 320, which corresponds to a transmit time interval of40 ms. Based on the scheme implemented in the circuit 100 according toan example of switching off, for instance, every second sub-block 330,this channel may be received on, for instance, the first and thirdsub-blocks 330-1, 330-3 as, for instance, depicted in FIG. 2 withrespect to the block 320-4. The decoder 240 of the baseband circuit 220may be fed with zeros or other default values for the second and fourthsub-block 330-2, 330-4 during which the receiver circuit 110 wasswitched to the non-ready-to-receive state.

An estimate of the signal quality, for instance, the SINR of the DPCHmay be acquired as a bypass product of the 3G Rel. 99 standard.Receivers working according to the 3G Rel. 99 standard or beingcompatible to the 3G Rel. 99 standard may access an estimate of thesignal quality in the form of the SINR since such an estimate may beused in the framework of a downlink power control loop of the WCDMA.

However, apart from the previously-mentioned signal quality condition,an operation condition may also have to be fulfilled to fulfill theenable condition. Thus, the enable condition may eventually not befulfilled, when the operational condition is not fulfilled.

For instance, in the example depicted above, apart from the AMR 12.2codec being configured and a sufficiently high SINR, it may be advisableto verify further conditions before switching the receiver circuit 110into the non-ready-to-receive state so that switching off theradio-frequency part of the receiver circuit 110 or at least partsthereof, is not detrimental. For example, it may be advisable to verifythat no cell searches or measurements are configured during this timeand also that no RAT (inter radio access technology) activities areongoing, which may be used when switching between differentcommunication standards. However, the circuit 100 according to anexample or other examples are by far not required to implement the AMR12.2 codec and working on the previously-mentioned channels. However, inmany cases it may be advisable to verify the current SINR is, in orderto be able to decode the received due to the switching to thenon-ready-to-receive state gap blocks 320, correctly. Moreover, it is tobe noted that a circuit 100 according to an example may be used in thecase of a 3G Rel. 99 implementation in both, TFCI-based (transportformat combination indicator) and BTFD-based (blind transport formatdetection) transmissions.

The operational condition may therefore be not fulfilled, when thecircuit 100 operates in a cell search, wherein the circuit 100 is usedto perform a measurement concerning at least one of a signal quality anda signal strength of a dedicated channel, when the circuit 100 operatesin a HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) protocol, when thecircuit 100 changes a communications protocol or a communicationstechnology, or when the signal 300 is transmitted according to antransmit diversity protocol. In other words, it may be advisable toverify, for instance, if the circuit 100 currently operates in a CLTD(closed-loop transmit diversity) and to avoid switching the receivercircuit 110 to a non-ready-to-receive state in such a case.

In the case of a 3G Rel. 99 implementation, the DPCH in a WCDMA istypically power-controlled. This means that most of the time the SINR ofthe DPCH is such that it needs exactly the required SINR to reliablydecode the DPCH. This may on the other hand mean that the SINR might notbe high enough to allow for only a smaller number of sub-blocks 330 tobe received and yet allow a reliable decoding. However, situations mayoccur when such a downlink power control loop is open or thecorresponding channels are not power-controlled. As a consequence, inthese situations the SINR or a similar signal quality may be high enoughsuch that the previously-described scheme of switching the receivercircuit 110 into the non-ready-to-receive state may be used. An examplefor such an open power control loop for the DPCH may be the user and hisor her mobile device being very close to the corresponding base station.In this case, the required transmit power for reliably decoding mayalready be very low. If the base station is already transmitting at itsminimum DPCH transmit power and the user gets closer to the basestation, the base station cannot reduce the DPCH power anymore. As aconsequence, the SINR will become higher than actually necessary. Insuch a situation, the downlink power control loop is open and the SINRmay be high enough to enable the scheme described above. Theradio-frequency transmitter components and other limiting factors mayimpose some constraints, which in turn may cause a minimum DPCH transmitpower below which the base station cannot transmit the channel with alower power or signal level.

In other words, the operational condition may be fulfilled, when a powerlevel of the signal cannot be reduced. Moreover, the operationalcondition may be fulfilled, when the circuit 100 operates in anon-power-controlled-channel or in an open-power downlink control modeof operation. During the time in which the receiver circuit is at leastpartially switched off or put in a stand-by mode, both uplink anddownlink power control loops may not be closed anymore. Similarly, apotential CLTD loop might not be closed. Although it may be advisable tonot enable the previously-described scheme in the case that a CLTD modeof operation is present, in order to maintain system stability with riskto the uplink and the downlink power control loops, the followingmeasures may be taken.

For instance, the transmitter power may be influenced. As alreadydescribed in the context of FIG. 1, the circuit 100 may further comprisethe transmitter circuit which is configured to generate a transmitsignal to be transmitted to the sender of the signal received or to bereceived by the receiver circuit 110. In such a case, the controlcircuit may be configured to determine a signal quality of the signaland to generate a power control signal based on the determined signalquality. The transmitter circuit 160 may then be configured to generatedthe transmit signal based on the power control signal, which may then beused to close for instance, the downlink power control.

In the case of opening the downlink power control loop by switching thereceiver circuit into the non-ready-to-receive state, it may be a viableoption to keep the transmit power constant. In other words, the controlcircuit 120 may be configured to generate the power control signalindicating essentially a constant signal level, when the receivercircuit is switched to the non-ready-to-receive state. In this case, thecontrol circuit may be configured to generate the power control signalduring the receiver circuit being switched to the non-ready-to-receivestate such that a change of the signal level requested is limited to apredefined power level range. For instance, the control circuit 120 maythen generate the power control signal indicating a request to changethe power level of the signal to increase or to decrease the power levelof the signal by one power step. For instance, by sending the requestup, down, up, down, . . . for the downlink power control loop, thecontrol circuit 120 may generate the power control signal toalternatingly request the sender of the signal to increase and todecrease the power level of the signal by one or more power steps. Inthe example given above, the alternating request to the sender toincrease and to decrease the power level is to increase or to decreasethe power level by exactly one step, respectively. One power step maycorrespond to 1 dB of power of the signal.

As explained in the context of FIG. 2, the control circuit 120 maygenerate the power control signal at least twice per sub-block 330. Inthe case of the 3G Rel. 99 implementation or a compatibleimplementation, in the framework of one sub-block 330 fifteencorresponding slots exist such that fifteen corresponding power controlvalues of the power control signal can be sent. The power control signalcan be regularly generated per sub-block.

This may limit the impact on the network. Since the power control loopacts on a high rate such as the previously-mentioned 1 dB per slot 340,both the uplink and the downlink power control loops may recover quicklyonce the receiver circuit 110 is switched to the ready-to-receive stateagain in the next frame or sub-block 330.

However, even though the impact of the open power control loops mighttherefore be limited, it may be possible to take additional steps tofurther mitigate the impact of the open power control loops on thesystem stability. For instance, the scheme of switching the receivercircuit 110 into the non-ready-to-receive state, may only be activated,if an uplink or downlink radio channel with low dynamics is detected.For instance, in the case of a sub-block with a fully-enabled orready-to-receive receiver circuit 110 out of the fifteen power controlcommands or values in either the uplink or downlink direction indicate atotal change of the transmit power of less than a certain threshold, forinstance, 8 power-up commands and 7 power-down commands or vice-versa,resulting in only a single power-up or power-down command in total persub-block. In other words, the operational condition may be fulfilledwhen a change of a power level of the signal is lower than apredetermined power change level.

In such a situation, the channel or data stream 310 may be judged asbeing sufficiently slowly changing so that opening the power controlloop may be regarded as not harmful for the system. Evaluating thedynamics of the channel could also be done by estimating the coherencetime of suitable physical channels like, for instance, a common pilotchannel (CPICH) on which a known bit sequence at a constant power istransmitted.

Moreover, the operational condition may not be fulfilled, for apredetermined period of time, when an error rate concerning at least oneof the data stream 310, the block 320 and the sub-block 330 has risenabove a predefined error limit. In other words, the scheme of switchingthe receiver circuit 110 to the non-ready-to-receive mode may only beactive, when, for instance, no block errors in either uplink or downlinkdirections have been detected in the recent past. If no block errorshave been detected, opening the power control loops may not affect thesystem stability, so that a further enabling of the scheme may beconsidered as not harmful. If, however, a block error has been detected,it may be advisable not to activate the scheme for a defined period oftime.

Moreover, enabling or disabling the scheme of switching the receivercircuit 110 into the non-ready-to-receive state may also be decided onother conditions such as an absolute value of the DPDCH, SINR, ongoingHSDPA transmissions or the like, as previously mentioned. Moreover, theoperational condition may not be fulfilled for a predetermined period oftime, when a link to the sender of the signal has been established orwhen a power control algorithm or loop has been established. In otherwords, it may be advisable not to activate the scheme for an absolutetime after a link establishment, the configured power control algorithmbeing initiated and other examples.

Moreover, the control circuit 120 may be configured to switch thereceiver circuit 110 in the non-ready-to-receive state temporarily tothe ready-to-receive state in a sub-block 330 to receive an uplink powercontrol value of the sub-block. In this case, the control circuit 110may further be configured to control a signal level of the transmitsignal based on the received power control value. In the case of a 3GRel. 99 implementation, the control circuit 120 may switch the receivercircuit 110 on again to receive the TPC (transmit power control) bits ofthe downlink DPCH and use these also for estimating thesignal-to-interference-ratio (SIR) of the downlink dedicated physicaldata channel (DPDCH). By implementing this option, the uplink powercontrol loop may be closed and the mobile device or user equipment (UE)of the user may be able to listen to the uplink power control commandsand can react accordingly. Also, the downlink power control loop can beclosed if the estimated downlink DPDCH SIR is used to properly generatea downlink TPC command to be sent on the uplink DPCCH.

By implementing this option, it may be possible to close the powercontrol loop. As a consequence, it may be possible to avoid any impacton the system stability. However, this may also mean that the powersavings are less than in the previously-described options, since thereceiver circuit 110 is switched to the non-ready-to-receive state for ashorter period of time.

By implementing the circuit 100 according to an example it may bepossible to realize a power consumption reduction by using a SINR-based,at least partial, receiver circuit 110 shut down at opportunistic times.As outlined before, this may be used in a cellular communication, suchas voice calls or the like. A circuit 100 according to an example may beimplemented in a high volume architecture such as a computer systemarchitecture, a mobile phone or similar architectures made in highvolumes. Such a circuit 100 may be implemented based on integrateddevices comprising, for instance, transistors and based on associatedmanufacturing processes.

In some of the examples depicted above, it may be possible to realizeperiodic power savings, for instance, every 20 ms for a duration ofapproximately 10 ms, when the SINR is high enough. Depending on theimplementation, the uplink and the downlink power control loops mayeventually be not closed. The same may also be true in the case of aCLTD implementation, when the scheme of switching the receiver circuit110 to the non-ready-to-receive state is nevertheless used in the CLTDmode.

Concerning the power savings, it may be possible to realize asignificant drop of energy consumption, when the receiver circuit 110 isswitched to the non-ready-to-receive state. However, this may requirethe SINR or other signal quality indicators to be sufficiently high.

In some situations, using a circuit 100 according to an example mayoffer a significant improvement concerning the power consumption during,for instance, a 3G Rel. 99 voice call. However, as indicated earlier,examples are by far not limited to the 3G Rel. 99 standard.

FIG. 5 shows a simplified block diagram of an integrated circuit 600comprising a substrate 610, which may be a semiconductor die. Thesubstrate 610 may, for instance, be a flat rectangular-shaped die havinga main surface perpendicular to a direction referred to as the thicknessof the substrate 610. The thickness of the substrate 610 is typicallysubstantially smaller than the extensions of the substrate 610 along twoother linearly-independent directions such as the width and the lengthof the corresponding substrate 610. For instance, a thickness of thesubstrate 610 may be at the most ⅕ or 20% of the smallest extension ofthe substrate parallel to the main surface.

The substrate 610 comprises a circuit 100 according to an example. Theintegrated circuit may further comprise a terminal 140 configured tocouple an antenna 130 (not shown in FIG. 5) to the circuit 100. Theterminal 140 may be the terminal of the circuit 100 or may be anadditional or alternative terminal.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic block diagram of a receiver 700 or atransceiver 710. The receiver 700 or transceiver 710 comprises a circuit100 according to an example and may further comprise an antenna 130coupled to the circuit 100. However, in other examples, the receiver ortransceiver may also comprise merely a terminal 140 allowing an antenna130 to be coupled to the circuit 100 of the receiver 700 or thetransceiver 710.

A transceiver is a device capable not only of receiving a signal butalso capable of transmitting a signal. For instance, the signal receivedand the signal to be transmitted may be similar concerning, forinstance, specifications according to which the signals are generatedand transmitted.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a method for receiving a signal. The methodcomprises in a process P100 receiving the signal 300 using a receivercircuit 110 as previously described. The signal 300 may also be a signal300 as described before. The method may further comprise in a processP110 switching the receiver circuit into a non-ready-to-receive stateduring at least a part of at least one sub-block 330 of the block 320,when an enable condition is fulfilled. Optionally, the method mayfurther comprise generating a payload signal in a process P120 whereinthe payload signal indicates the payload of the block 320 of the signal300.

The processes are by far not required to be performed in the indicatedorder of FIG. 7. The processes may be performed in an arbitrary order,timely overlapping or even simultaneously. Naturally, the processes mayalso be performed several times, for instance in the form of a loop.

In the following examples pertain to further examples.

Example 1 is a circuit comprising a receiver circuit configured toreceive a signal comprising a data stream, the data stream comprising atleast one block of data, a block of the at least one block of datacomprising at least two sub-blocks, a payload of the block beingredundantly encoded in the at least two sub-blocks, the at least twosub-blocks of the block being consistently arranged over time inside theblock. The circuit further comprises a control circuit configured toswitch the receiver circuit into a non-ready-to-receive state during atleast a part of at least one of the at least two sub-blocks of theblock, when an enable condition is fulfilled.

In example 2, the subject matter of example 1 may optionally include apower consumption of the circuit in the non-ready-to-receive state beinglower than in a ready-to-receive state, in which the circuit isconfigured to receive a sub-block of the block and to decode the payloadof the block based on the received sub-block.

In example 3, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 or 2 mayoptionally include the control circuit being configured to switch thereceiver circuit into a ready-to-receive state, in which the circuit isconfigured to receive a sub-block of the block and to decode the payloadof the block based on the received sub-block, during at least a minimumnumber of sub-blocks required to decode the payload of the block, whenthe enable condition is fulfilled.

In example 4, the subject matter of example 3 may optionally include thecontrol circuit being configured to switch the receiver circuit into theready-to-receive state during exactly the minimum number of sub-blocksof the block required to decode the payload of the block, when theenable condition is fulfilled.

In example 5, the subject matter of any of the examples 3 or 4 mayoptionally include the control circuit being configured to switch thereceiver circuit into the non-ready-to-receive state during at least apart of each sub-block of the rest of the sub-blocks of the block notused for decoding the payload of the block, when the enable condition isfulfilled.

In example 6, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 5 mayoptionally include the circuit being configured to decode the payload ofthe block based on a predefined pattern for the at least one sub-blockduring which the receiver circuit has been switched at least partiallyto the non-ready-to-receive state.

In example 7, the subject matter of example 6 may optionally include thepredefined pattern corresponding to a predefined value.

In example 8, the subject matter of example 7 may optionally include thepredefined value being equal to 0.

In example 9, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 8 mayoptionally include the enable condition being not fulfilled, when asignal quality of the signal does not meet a signal quality condition.

In example 10, the subject matter of example 9 may optionally includethe signal quality condition being met, when an error rate concerningthe payload of the block, when receiving all sub-blocks of the block, isat least equal to or comparable with an error rate concerning thepayload of the block, when the receiver circuit is switched during atleast a part of at least one sub-block of the block to thenon-ready-to-receive state.

In example 11, the subject matter of any of the examples 9 or 10 mayoptionally include the signal quality condition being met, when thesignal quality is at least 1 dB better than a signal quality specifiedfor a predetermined error rate, when all sub-blocks of the block arereceived.

In example 12, the subject matter of any of the examples 9 to 11 mayoptionally include the block comprising exactly two sub-blocks, andwherein the signal quality condition is met, when the signal quality isat least 3 dB or at least 4 dB better than a signal quality specifiedfor a predetermined error rate, when all sub-blocks of the block arereceived.

In example 13, the subject matter of any of the examples 9 to 12 mayoptionally include the block comprising exactly an even number ofsub-blocks, wherein the receiver circuit is switched for at least a partof each sub-block of half of the number of sub-blocks of the block intothe non-ready-to-receive state, and wherein the signal quality conditionis met, when the signal quality is at least 3 dB or at least 4 dB betterthan a signal quality specified for a predetermined error rate, when allsub-blocks of the block are received.

In example 14, the subject matter of any of the examples 9 to 13 mayoptionally include the block comprising exactly four sub-blocks, whereinthe receiver circuit is switched for at least a part of exactly one ofthe sub-blocks of the block into the non-ready-to-receive state, andwherein the signal quality condition is met, when the signal quality isat least 1 dB or at least 2 dB better than a signal quality specifiedfor a predetermined error rate, when all sub-blocks of the block arereceived.

In example 15, the subject matter of any of the examples 9 to 14 mayoptionally include the block comprising exactly four sub-blocks, whereinthe receiver circuit is switched for at least a part of exactly twosub-blocks of the block into the non-ready-to-receive state, and whereinthe signal quality condition is met, when the signal quality is at least3 dB or at least 4 dB better than a signal quality specified for apredetermined error rate, when all sub-blocks of the block are received.

In example 16, the subject matter of any of the examples 9 to 15 mayoptionally include the signal quality being at least one of asignal-to-noise-ratio, a signal-to-interference-and-noise-ratio, asignal-to-interference-ratio, a coherence time, an error rate and ablock error rate of at least one of a pilot signal comprised in thesignal, a channel corresponding to the data stream of the signal, apilot channel of the signal, the data stream of the signal, the block ofthe data stream and a sub-block of the block.

In example 17, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 16 mayoptionally include the enable condition being not fulfilled, when anoperational condition is not fulfilled.

In example 18, the subject matter of example 17 may optionally includethe operational condition being fulfilled, when the circuit operates ina non-power-controlled channel or in an open-power downlink control modeof operation.

In example 19, the subject matter of any of the examples 17 or 18 mayoptionally include the operational condition being fulfilled, when apower level of the signal cannot be reduced or when a change of a powerlevel of the signal is lower than a predetermined power change level.

In example 20, the subject matter of any of the examples 17 to 19 mayoptionally include the operational condition being not fulfilled, whenthe circuit operates in a cell search, when the circuit is used toperform a measurement concerning at least one of a signal quality and asignal strength of a dedicated channel, when the circuit operates in aHigh Speed Downlink Packet Access protocol, when the circuit changes acommunications protocol or a communications technology, or when thesignal is transmitted according to a transmit diversity protocol.

In example 21, the subject matter of any of the examples 17 to 20 mayoptionally include the operational condition being not fulfilled, for apredetermined period of time, when an error rate concerning at least oneof the data stream, the block and the sub-block has risen above apredefined error limit, when a link to a sender of the signal has beenestablished, or when a power control algorithm or loop has beenestablished.

In example 22, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 21 mayoptionally include the circuit further comprising a transmitter circuitconfigured to generate a transmit signal to be transmitted to a senderof the signal.

In example 23, the subject matter of example 22 may optionally includethe control circuit being configured to determine a signal quality ofthe signal and to generate a power control signal based on thedetermined signal quality, and wherein the transmitter circuit isconfigured to generate the transmit signal based on the power controlsignal.

In example 24, the subject matter of example 23 may optionally includethe control circuit being configured to generate the power controlsignal indicating essentially a constant signal level, when the receivercircuit is switched to the non-ready-to-receive state.

In example 25, the subject matter of any of the examples 23 or 24 mayoptionally include the control circuit being configured to generate thepower control signal during the receiver circuit being switched to thenon-ready-to-receive state such that a change of the signal levelrequested is limited to a predefined power level range.

In example 26, the subject matter of any of the examples 23 to 25 mayoptionally include the control circuit being configured to generate thepower control signal indicating a request to the sender of the signal toincrease or to decrease the power level of the signal by one power step.

In example 27, the subject matter of example 26 may optionally includethe control circuit being configured to generate the power controlsignal to alternatingly request the sender of the signal to increase andto decrease the power level of the signal by one or more power steps.

In example 28, the subject matter of example 27 may optionally includethe power control circuit being configured to generate the power controlsignal to alternatingly request the sender of the signal to increase andto decrease the power level of the signal by one power step.

In example 29, the subject matter of any of the examples 26 to 28 mayoptionally include one power step corresponding to 1 dB of the power ofthe signal.

In example 30, the subject matter of any of the examples 25 to 29 mayoptionally include the control circuit being configured to generate thepower control signal at least twice per sub-block.

In example 31, the subject matter of example 30 may optionally includethe control circuit being configured to generate the power controlsignal regularly per sub-block.

In example 32, the subject matter of any of the examples 22 to 31 mayoptionally include the control circuit being configured to switch thereceiver circuit during a sub-block, during a rest of which the receivercircuit is switched into the non-ready-to-receive state, temporarily tothe ready-to-receive state to receive a downlink power control value ofthe sub-block, wherein the control circuit is further configured tocontrol a signal level of the transmit signal based on the receivedpower control value.

In example 33, the subject matter of any of the examples 22 to 32 mayoptionally include the control circuit being configured to switch thereceiver circuit during a sub-block, during a rest of which the receivercircuit is switched into the non-ready-to-receive state, temporarily tothe ready-to-receive state to receive a downlink power control value ofthe sub-block, wherein the control circuit is further configured todetermine a signal quality of the signal based on the received powercontrol value and to generate a power control signal based on thedetermined signal quality, and wherein the transmitter circuit isconfigured to generate the transmit signal based on the power controlsignal.

In example 34, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 32 mayoptionally include the signal being a radio-frequency signal.

In example 35, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 34 mayoptionally include the receiver circuit comprising an analog partconfigured to process the signal at least partially in a radio-frequencydomain and a digital part configured to process the signal at leastpartially in a baseband domain.

In example 36, the subject matter of example 35 may optionally includethe analog part of the receiver circuit being further configured toprovide the signal in the baseband domain, or wherein the digital partof the receiver circuit is configured to generate the signal in thebaseband domain.

In example 37, the subject matter of any of the examples 35 or 36 mayoptionally include the receiver circuit being configured to switch atleast one component of the analog part of the receiver circuit intostand-by or off in the non-ready-to-receive state.

In example 38, the subject matter of example 37 may optionally includethe at least one component switchable to stand-by or to off beingconfigured to be switchable into a full mode of operation used duringthe ready-to-receive state in less than a transmission duration of asub-block of the block.

In example 39, the subject matter of example 38 may optionally includethe at least one component being switchable from stand-by or off intothe full mode of operation in less than 10% of the transmission time ofthe sub-block.

In example 40, the subject matter of any of the examples 36 to 39 mayoptionally include the analog part comprising at least one of a filterconfigured to filter the signal in the radio-frequency domain, anamplifier configured to amplify the signal in the radio-frequencydomain, and a mixer configured to down-mix the signal from theradio-frequency domain, and wherein the at least one component comprisesat least one of the filter, the amplifier and the mixer.

In example 41, the subject matter of any of the examples 35 to 40 mayoptionally include the receiver circuit being configured to switch atleast one component of the digital part of the receiver circuit intostand-by or off in the non-ready-to-receive state.

In example 42, the subject matter of example 41 may optionally includethe at least one component switchable to stand-by or to off beingconfigured to be switchable in to a full mode of operation used duringthe ready-to-receive state in less than a transmission duration of asub-block of the block.

In example 43, the subject matter of example 42 may optionally includethe at least one component being switchable from stand-by or off intothe full mode of operation in less than 10% of the transmission time ofthe sub-block.

In example 44, the subject matter of any of the examples 41 to 43 mayoptionally include the digital part comprising at least one of a decoderconfigured to decode the signal in the baseband domain and ananalog-to-digital converter configured to digitize the signal, andwherein the at least one component comprises at least one of the decoderand the analog-to-digital converter.

In example 45, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 44 mayoptionally include the signal being a radio signal.

In example 46, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 45 mayoptionally include the signal being signal in a radio cellular network.

In example 47, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 46 mayoptionally include the signal being a non-time-multiplexed signal.

In example 48, the subject matter of example 47 may optionally includethe signal comprising a plurality of data streams, each data streambeing allocated to at least one of a different user, a different serviceand a different purpose.

In example 49, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 48 mayoptionally include the sub-blocks being gapless arranged over timeinside the block.

In example 50, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 49 mayoptionally include the payload of the block corresponding to at leastone of a speech transmission, an audio transmission, configuration datafor the transmission and a data transmission.

In example 51, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 50 mayoptionally include the block of the signal being in compliance with the3G Rel. 99 standard.

In example 52, the subject matter of example 51 may optionally includethe data stream corresponding to at least one of a dedicated physicalchannel and a signaling radio bearer.

In example 53, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 52 mayoptionally include the circuit being configured for a mobile unit oruser equipment of a radio cellular network.

In example 54, the subject matter of examples 53 may optionally includethe radio cellular network being compatible with the 3G Rel. 99standard.

In example 55, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 54 mayoptionally include the payload of the block being redundantly encoded inthe at least two sub-blocks such that the payload is decodable from alower number of sub-blocks than the block comprises.

In example 56, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 55 mayoptionally include the receiver circuit being further configured togenerate a payload signal indicating the payload of the block.

In example 57, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 56 mayoptionally include the control circuit being processor-based.

In example 58, the subject matter of any of the examples 1 to 57 mayoptionally include the payload being digitally encoded in the block ofthe signal.

Example 59 is an integrated circuit comprising a substrate, thesubstrate comprising a circuit according to any of the examples 1 to 58.

In example 60, the subject matter of example 59 may optionally includethe integrated circuit comprising a terminal configured to couple anantenna to the circuit.

Example 61 is a receiver or a transceiver comprising a circuit accordingto any of the examples 1 to 58.

In example 62, the subject matter of example 61 may optionally includean antenna coupled to circuit.

In example 63, the subject matter of any of the examples 61 or 62 mayoptionally include a terminal coupled to the circuit and configured tocouple an antenna to the circuit.

Example 64 is a method for receiving a signal, the method comprisingreceiving the signal, using a receiver circuit, wherein the signalcomprises a data stream, the data stream comprising at least one blockof data, a block of the at least one block of data comprising at leasttwo sub-blocks, a payload of the block being redundantly encoded in theat least two sub-blocks, the at least two sub-blocks of the block beingconsistently arranged over time inside the block, and switching thereceiver circuit into a non-ready-to-receive state during at least apart of at least one of the at least two sub-block of the block, when anenable condition is fulfilled.

In example 65, the subject matter of example 64 may optionally includegenerating a payload signal indicating the payload of the block.

In example 66, the subject matter of any of the examples 64 or 65 mayoptionally include switching the receiver circuit into aready-to-receive state, in which the circuit is configured to receive asub-block of the block and to decode the payload of the block based onthe received sub-block, during at least a minimum number of sub-blocksrequired to decode the payload of the block, when the enable conditionis fulfilled.

In example 67, the subject matter of example 66 may optionally includeswitching the receiver circuit comprising switching the receiver circuitinto the ready-to-receive state during exactly the minimum number ofsub-blocks of the block required to decode the payload of the block,when the enable condition is fulfilled.

In example 68, the subject matter of any of the examples 66 or 67 mayoptionally include switching the receiver circuit into thenon-ready-to-receive state comprising switching the receiver circuitinto the non-ready-to-receive state during at least a part of eachsub-block of the rest of the sub-blocks of the block not used fordecoding the payload of the block, when the enable condition isfulfilled.

In example 69, the subject matter of any of the examples 64 to 68 mayoptionally include generating a transmit signal to be transmitted to asender of the signal.

In example 70, the subject matter of example 69 may optionally includedetermining a signal quality of the signal and generating a powercontrol signal based on the determined signal quality, and whereingenerating the transmit signal comprises generating the transmit signalbased on the power control signal.

In example 71, the subject matter of example 70 may optionally includegenerating the power control signal comprising generating the powercontrol signal indicating essentially a constant signal level, when thereceiver circuit is switched to the non-ready-to-receive state.

In example 72, the subject matter of any of the examples 70 or 71 mayoptionally include generating the power control signal comprisinggenerating the power control signal during the receiver circuit beingswitched to the non-ready-to-receive state such that a change of thesignal level requested is limited to a predefined power level range.

In example 73, the subject matter of any of the examples 70 to 72 mayoptionally include generating the power control signal comprisinggenerating the power control signal indicating a request to the senderof the signal to increase or to decrease the power level of the signalby one power step.

In example 74, the subject matter of example 73 may optionally includegenerating the power control signal comprising generating the powercontrol signal to alternatingly request the sender of the signal toincrease and to decrease the power level of the signal by one or morepower steps.

In example 75, the subject matter of any of the examples 72 to 74 mayoptionally include generating the power control signal comprisinggenerating the power control signal at least twice per sub-block.

In example 76, the subject matter of any of the examples 69 to 75 mayoptionally include switching the receiver circuit during a sub-block,during a rest of which the receiver circuit is switched into thenon-ready-to-receive state, temporarily to the ready-to-receive state toreceive a downlink power control value of the sub-block, wherein themethod comprises controlling a signal level of the transmit signal basedon the received power control value.

In example 77, the subject matter of any of the examples 69 to 76 mayoptionally include switching the receiver circuit during a sub-block,during a rest of which the receiver circuit is switched into thenon-ready-to-receive state, temporarily to the ready-to-receive state toreceive a downlink power control value of the sub-block, wherein themethod further comprises determining a signal quality of the signalbased on the received power control value and generating a power controlsignal based on the determined signal quality, and wherein generatingthe transmit signal comprises generating the transmit signal based onthe power control signal.

Example 78 is a machine readable storage medium including program code,when executed, to cause a machine to perform the method of any one ofexamples 64 to 77.

Example 79 is a machine readable storage including machine readableinstructions, when executed, to implement a method or realize anapparatus as described in any pending example.

Example 80 is a computer program having a program code for performingany of the methods of examples 64 to 77, when the computer program isexecuted on a computer or processor.

Example 81 is an apparatus for receiving a signal, the apparatuscomprising a means for receiving the signal, the signal comprising adata stream, the data stream comprising at least one block of data, ablock of the at least one block of data comprising at least twosub-blocks, a payload of the block being redundantly encoded in the atleast two sub-blocks, the at least two sub-blocks of the block beingconsistently arranged over time inside the block, and a means forswitching the means for receiving the signal into a non-ready-to-receivestate during at least a part of at least one of the at least twosub-block of the block, when an enable condition is fulfilled.

In example 82 the subject matter of example 81 may optionally include ameans for generating a payload signal indicating the payload of theblock.

It should be noted that functions, operations, processes and the likedescribed in the context of a circuit, a device or other implementationscorrespond to appropriate processes of methods. Moreover, functions,operations, processes and the like described in the context of a methodcan equally well be implemented in a circuit a device or otherimplementations. Also details concerning applications, signals and otherparameters directly or indirectly concerned with an example may alsoapply to other examples. For instance, a parameter, example or the likedescribed in the context of a device can equally well be implemented inthe framework of a method.

Examples may, therefore, provide a computer program having a programcode for performing one of the above methods, when the computer programis executed on a computer or processor. A person of skill in the artwould readily recognize that steps of various above-described methodsmay be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some examples are alsointended to cover program storage devices, e.g., digital data storagemedia, which are machine or computer readable and encodemachine-executable or computer-executable programs of instructions,wherein the instructions perform some or all of the acts of theabove-described methods. The program storage devices may be, e.g.,digital memories, magnetic storage media such as magnetic disks andmagnetic tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital data storagemedia. The examples are also intended to cover computers programmed toperform the acts of the above-described methods or (field) programmablelogic arrays ((F)PLAs) or (field) programmable gate arrays ((F)PGAs),programmed to perform the acts of the above-described methods.

The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of thedisclosure. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the artwill be able to devise various arrangements that, although notexplicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of thedisclosure and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore,all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to beonly for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding theprinciples of the disclosure and the concepts contributed by theinventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as beingwithout limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, andexamples of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, areintended to encompass equivalents thereof.

Functional blocks denoted as “means for . . . ” (performing a certainfunction) shall be understood as functional blocks comprising circuitrythat is configured to perform a certain function, respectively. Hence, a“means for s.th.” may as well be understood as a “means configured to orsuited for s.th.”. A means configured to perform a certain functiondoes, hence, not imply that such means necessarily is performing thefunction (at a given time instant).

Functions of various elements shown in the figures, including anyfunctional blocks labeled as “means”, “means for providing a sensorsignal”, “means for generating a transmit signal.”, etc., may beprovided through the use of dedicated hardware, such as “a signalprovider”, “a signal processing unit”, “a processor”, “a controller”,etc. as well as hardware capable of executing software in associationwith appropriate software. Moreover, any entity described herein as“means”, may correspond to or be implemented as “one or more modules”,“one or more devices”, “one or more units”, etc. When provided by aprocessor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicatedprocessor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individualprocessors, some of which may be shared. Moreover, explicit use of theterm “processor” or “controller” should not be construed to referexclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and mayimplicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP)hardware, network processor, application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), read only memory (ROM) forstoring software, random access memory (RAM), and non-volatile storage.Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any blockdiagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitryembodying the principles of the disclosure. Similarly, it will beappreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transitiondiagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes whichmay be substantially represented in computer readable medium and soexecuted by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer orprocessor is explicitly shown.

Furthermore, the following claims are hereby incorporated into theDetailed Description, where each claim may stand on its own as aseparate example. While each claim may stand on its own as a separateexample, it is to be noted that—although a dependent claim may refer inthe claims to a specific combination with one or more other claims—otherexamples may also include a combination of the dependent claim with thesubject matter of each other dependent or independent claim. Suchcombinations are proposed herein unless it is stated that a specificcombination is not intended. Furthermore, it is intended to include alsofeatures of a claim to any other independent claim even if this claim isnot directly made dependent to the independent claim.

It is further to be noted that methods disclosed in the specification orin the claims may be implemented by a device having means for performingeach of the respective acts of these methods.

Further, it is to be understood that the disclosure of multiple acts orfunctions disclosed in the specification or claims may not be construedas to be within the specific order. Therefore, the disclosure ofmultiple acts or functions will not limit these to a particular orderunless such acts or functions are not interchangeable for technicalreasons. Furthermore, in some examples a single act may include or maybe broken into multiple sub acts. Such sub-acts or sub-processes may beincluded and be part of such a single act or process, unless explicitlyexcluded.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A circuit comprising: a receiver circuitconfigured to receive a signal comprising a data stream, the data streamcomprising at least one block of data, a block of the at least one blockof data comprising at least two sub-blocks, a payload of the block beingredundantly encoded in the at least two sub-blocks, and the at least twosub-blocks of the block being consistently arranged over time inside theblock; and a control circuit configured to switch the receiver circuitinto a non-ready-to-receive state during at least a part of at least oneof the at least two sub-blocks of the block, when an enable condition isfulfilled, wherein the enable condition is not fulfilled, when anoperational condition is not fulfilled, and wherein the operationalcondition is not fulfilled, for a predetermined period of time, when anerror rate concerning at least one of the data stream, the block and thesub-block has risen above a predefined error limit, when a link to asender of the signal has been established, or when a power controlalgorithm or loop has been established, and wherein the enable conditionis not fulfilled, when an operational condition is not fulfilled, andwherein the operational condition is fulfilled, when the circuitoperates in a non-power-controlled channel or in an open-power downlinkcontrol mode of operation, or wherein the enable condition is notfulfilled, when an operational condition is not fulfilled, and whereinthe operational condition is fulfilled, when a power level of the signalcannot be reduced or when a change of a power level of the signal islower than a predetermined power change level, or wherein the enablecondition is not fulfilled, when an operational condition is notfulfilled, and wherein the operational condition is not fulfilled, whenthe circuit operates in a cell search, when the circuit is used toperform a measurement concerning at least one of a signal quality and asignal strength of a dedicated channel, when the circuit operates in aHigh Speed Downlink Packet Access protocol, when the circuit changes acommunications protocol or a communications technology, or when thesignal is transmitted according to a transmit diversity protocol.
 2. Acircuit comprising: a receiver circuit configured to receive a signalcomprising a data stream, the data stream comprising at least one blockof data, a block of the at least one block of data comprising at leasttwo sub-blocks, a payload of the block being redundantly encoded in theat least two sub-blocks, and the at least two sub-blocks of the blockbeing consistently arranged over time inside the block; a controlcircuit configured to switch the receiver circuit into anon-ready-to-receive state during at least a part of at least one of theat least two sub-blocks of the block, when an enable condition isfulfilled; and a transmitter circuit configured to generate a transmitsignal to be transmitted to a sender of the signal, wherein the enablecondition is not fulfilled, when an operational condition is notfulfilled, and wherein the operational condition is not fulfilled, for apredetermined period of time, when an error rate concerning at least oneof the data stream, the block and the sub-block has risen above apredefined error limit, when a link to a sender of the signal has beenestablished, or when a power control algorithm or loop has beenestablished, and wherein the control circuit is configured to determinea signal quality of the signal and to generate a power control signalbased on the determined signal quality, and wherein the transmittercircuit is configured to generate the transmit signal based on the powercontrol signal.
 3. A circuit comprising: a receiver circuit configuredto receive a signal comprising a data stream, the data stream comprisingat least one block of data, a block of the at least one block of datacomprising at least two sub-blocks, a payload of the block beingredundantly encoded in the at least two sub-blocks, and the at least twosub-blocks of the block being consistently arranged over time inside theblock; a control circuit configured to switch the receiver circuit intoa non-ready-to-receive state during at least a part of at least one ofthe at least two sub-blocks of the block, when an enable condition isfulfilled; and a transmitter circuit configured to generate a transmitsignal to be transmitted to a sender of the signal, wherein the enablecondition is not fulfilled, when an operational condition is notfulfilled, and wherein the operational condition is not fulfilled, for apredetermined period of time, when an error rate concerning at least oneof the data stream, the block and the sub-block has risen above apredefined error limit, when a link to a sender of the signal has beenestablished, or when a power control algorithm or loop has beenestablished, and wherein the control circuit is configured to generatethe power control signal during the receiver circuit being switched tothe non-ready-to-receive state such that a change of the signal levelrequested is limited to a predefined power level range, or wherein thecontrol circuit is configured to generate the power control signalindicating a request to the sender of the signal to increase or todecrease the power level of the signal by one power step.
 4. A circuitcomprising: a receiver circuit configured to receive a signal comprisinga data stream, the data stream comprising at least one block of data, ablock of the at least one block of data comprising at least twosub-blocks, a payload of the block being redundantly encoded in the atleast two sub-blocks, and the at least two sub-blocks of the block beingconsistently arranged over time inside the block; a control circuitconfigured to switch the receiver circuit into a non-ready-to-receivestate during at least a part of at least one of the at least twosub-blocks of the block, when an enable condition is fulfilled; and atransmitter circuit configured to generate a transmit signal to betransmitted to a sender of the signal, wherein the enable condition isnot fulfilled, when an operational condition is not fulfilled, andwherein the operational condition is not fulfilled, for a predeterminedperiod of time, when an error rate concerning at least one of the datastream, the block and the sub-block has risen above a predefined errorlimit, when a link to a sender of the signal has been established, orwhen a power control algorithm or loop has been established, wherein thecontrol circuit is configured to switch the receiver circuit during asub-block, during a rest of which the receiver circuit is switched intothe non-ready-to-receive state, temporarily to the ready-to-receivestate to receive a downlink power control value of the sub-block,wherein the control circuit is further configured to control a signallevel of the transmit signal based on the received power control value,or wherein the control circuit is configured to switch the receivercircuit during a sub-block, during a rest of which the receiver circuitis switched into the non-ready-to-receive state, temporarily to theready-to-receive state to receive a downlink power control value of thesub-block, wherein the control circuit is further configured todetermine a signal quality of the signal based on the received powercontrol value and to generate a power control signal based on thedetermined signal quality, and wherein the transmitter circuit isconfigured to generate the transmit signal based on the power controlsignal.